


Manifest Disinterest

by guavaaajellyfics



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Fluff and Angst, M/M, and maybe spice, just a tiny bit, keith likes ghost-hunting, lance and keith dont get along at first, there will be a bit of angst later on, we'll see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guavaaajellyfics/pseuds/guavaaajellyfics
Summary: Anomalies were a common thing in Keith’s life. Cryptids, theories, ghosts, urban legends. They never ceased to leave him in awe and he has spent years chasing all those mysteries. However, this was the first time an anomaly chased him.Lance McClain, the biggest anomaly Keith has ever faced.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Manifest Disinterest

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off of @yosamuraiii 's tweet on popular Lance and cryptid-lover Keith. This is also my Day 2 entry for Klance AU Month by @monthyklance on Twitter. I separated this fic from my other Klance AU Month fics because this is going to be a multi-chapter fic. I hope you guys enjoy!

Anomalies were a common thing in Keith’s life. Cryptids, theories, ghosts, urban legends. They never ceased to leave him in awe and he has spent years chasing all those mysteries. However, this was the first time an anomaly chased him.

Lance McClain, the biggest anomaly Keith has ever faced.

That boy was Mr. Desirable. A people pleaser, a crowd-favorite. Lance showed up to every party and after-party. He was an athlete in high school which made him quite famous from all the competitions he’s won. Lance was charming, charismatic. He was witty and had a certain air about him. He was the embodiment of a college frat boy stereotype, not that it was a bad thing. Keith couldn’t care less what Lance was like.

Keith couldn’t care less what anyone was like. Nor did he care what anyone thought about him. He spent every day alone. Maybe occasionally he’d converse with a classmate or two about projects, but never held a conversation about anything else. Especially not about himself. No, he liked keeping to himself. He didn’t mind the whispers that fluttered around him, no matter what they were. And right now that Lance was trailing alongside him, Keith still couldn’t care less.

“Hey, Keith, right? I’m Lance. I’ve seen you around, but never got to talk to… you…” Lance’s words slowly died in his throat as Keith continued to trudge on without sparing him even a sideways glance. Keith has dealt with worse, but if Lance McClain was approaching him, then there must be something going on behind the scenes. It was best Keith just ignored him.

Lance raised an eyebrow at Keith’s indifference, but persisted. He walked a little quicker to keep up with Keith’s pace. The eager grin on his mouth never faltered as he tried once more. “We have Philosophy together. I sit, like… three seats in front of you.”

There was still no reaction, but Lance continued, “So, there’s this little get together thing some guys have had planned and what do you think about maybe…  _ maybe  _ being my plus one?”

Keith hesitated for a fraction of a second, but after years of practicing, his poker face was basically pristine and polished to perfection. He’ll ponder on what Lance meant later, but for now, his goal was to just leave the campus and head to the abandoned building a few blocks over.

“So, they weren’t kidding when they said that you aren’t that much of a talker, huh?” Lance chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “Well, hey, can you hold on for a second?” He placed a hand on his shoulder only to be startled by Keith glaring at him.

“Don’t touch me.”

Lance pulled his hand back quicker than he could breathe. “Sorry, man. Look. I know I’m probably wasting your time, but at least let me invite you, give you my number, then leave you to think about it.”

“What makes you think I want to go?” Keith wasn’t mad or anything. But if ignoring him wasn’t going to work, then he might as well give him a piece of his mind to get him to lay off.

“You don’t, but maybe I just want to ask you out. Maybe I just wanna buy you dinner or lunch sometime.” Lance shrugged, a glint of eagerness in his eyes. Still, this doesn’t faze Keith. People have done worse.

He sighed, exasperated. “Look, I don’t want to go out with you. I don’t even know you.”

Lance gave an exaggerated gasp, placing his hand on his chest in fake shock. “Thou hast offended me, Keith.” He chuckled, dropping the act and slipping his hand into his pocket to fish for his phone. “How about we get to know each other then? Maybe I can convince you to go out with me. You can start by giving me your number.”

Keith looked at him with the same deadpan expression as he noted, “I thought you wanted to give me your number.”

“Ooh, so you were listening, huh? And asking me for my number. How bold of you, Keith.” Lance laughed, adding in a little wink for good measure.

“Wha-- No. I never--”

“I’m just teasing.” Lance only laughed harder. “Look, I did mean what I said. I wanna get to know you, Keith. But clearly, you’re not interested. So, let me just give you my number and you can think about it. If you don’t change your mind, that’s alright. You can delete my number the moment I walk away.”

Keith couldn’t help but frown at that. There had to be a catch. There was always a catch. He asked, “What do  _ you  _ get out of it?”

“Well, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. And this is me shooting my shot with you. Even if it doesn’t turn out right, I can at least say I tried.” Lance shrugged, hand still in his pocket, grasping the phone.

“What if I don’t want your number?”

“Like I said.” The boyish grin on Lance’s face still stood unwavering. “You can just delete it after.”

“Fine.” Keith rolled his eyes at that. This was definitely a weird request, but if it would get Lance to just go away, then this wouldn’t be too bad. Keith pulled his phone out and handed it to Lance, whose grin only grew wider with delight. He giddily typed his number in Keith’s phone, glancing at him every few seconds. Once he was done, he handed the phone back, elated and perfectly satisfied.

“Thanks for indulging me. I’ll get out of your mullet now. See you around, Keith!” Lance winked at him before walking back the direction they came with a pep in his step and a wide smile on his face.

Keith would’ve said something in argument, but he didn’t want to give Lance more attention than he already did. Lance was the type to linger if you showed any form of interest, and that was the last thing Keith wanted. He simply slipped his phone back in his pocket and continued on. He had other things to do after all, and this was hopefully the only time he’d have to deal with Lance.

Well, he hoped, but that wasn’t a guarantee. Keith knew for a fact that Lance was the type to persist till he got what he wanted. That was how he became popular after all. And if Lance really did want to go out with him, there was no doubt that he’d show up again and again. Keith figured he needed to prepare for the worst.

Apparently, his suspicions were true. The following morning, just before the beginning of his Philosophy class, Lance walked up to him and leaned against his desk, a curious look on his face.

“Thought about it yet?”

Keith looked up, silently trying to calm himself down. “Don’t you have better things to do?”

Lance slid into the vacant seat next to him and propped his elbow on the table before responding. “Nope. And you?”

“Yes.” Keith rolled his eyes, taking his headphones out of his bag.

Lance couldn’t help but stare in wonder. He rested his chin on his hand as he watched Keith plug the headphones into his phone and wore them. “You use  _ headphones _ ? Didn’t think someone still used those.”

Keith hasn’t had his patience tested like this for a while now, and it was really getting to him. Even his brother, Shiro, was less of a pain in the ass than this guy, and Shiro annoyed him to no end. But Keith wasn’t going to entertain Lance again. He already had, and this was the consequence. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he would continue to feed into Lance’s little games. This guy was already getting on his nerves as it is.

Lance craned his neck to take a peek at what music Keith was listening to and grinned upon seeing the song choice. “Mother Mother, huh? I expected as much. You look like the type. My sister listens to them  _ a lot _ so I know a few songs.”

Keith let out a huff, slipping the headphones off and turning to Lance. It took every ounce of willpower in him to keep his voice at its usual volume. This guy was really starting to piss him off. He hated when people hovered like that.

“What are you trying to do?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. But this didn’t elicit any change in Lance’s expression whatsoever, which only ticked him off even more.

“Trying to get to know you. I really meant what I said, you know?”

“Well, I don’t need you to do that. So please, just leave me alone.” Keith grumbled, placing his headphones back on, turning away from him once again. That worked, apparently, as Lance took the hint and headed back to his seat.

Keith glanced up and saw Lance talk to some other people, which was more than a relief for him. It honestly boggled him that someone such as Lance would waste his time trying to talk to Keith when he could be surrounded by people who did want to be around him. It was odd, but that was the least of Keith’s concerns. Whatever it was Lance wanted, whether he really wanted to get to know him or if it was something else, Keith didn’t care. He just wanted to be left alone.

The professor came in about fifteen minutes after, making Keith begrudgingly take his headphones off. He actually enjoyed philosophy and this teacher was quite interesting, but he really wasn’t in the mood to pay attention. He had Lance to thank for that.

The class went just about the same as it normally did, and eventually, Keith calmed down enough to listen to the lecture. The topic was about aesthetics, and Keith, as indifferent he seemed to everything else, was one to appreciate such things as art and music. There were things he did care about, just not other people.

“Alright.” The professor announced as he reached the end of his discussion. “I will be assigning a project for all of you to work on. It will be a pairwork. I suggest working with someone who could give you a different perspective on the topic.”

After explaining the instructions, the professor allowed everyone to go and pick a partner, and in that instant, Keith suddenly felt an urgency to find a partner as quickly as possible. He looked around the room, eyes frantic to find someone, anyone. Just not Lance. Anyone but Lance. Keith looked over to the person sitting behind him only to find the seat there empty. With each passing second, he could feel a presence drawing closer and closer. Keith refused to look up in fear of what he might see.

“I know you don’t want me as a partner, Keith.”

Keith grimaced at those words. He moved too slow and in the end, the worst he feared actually ended up happening. He slowly lifted his head to be met with an amused expression on Lance’s face, the edge of his mouth quirked up to a grin. Keith wanted nothing more than to just disappear into thin air or have the ground swallow him whole. It would be a far less excruciating fate than this.

He stared back up at Lance with his usual deadpan expression. “If you knew that, then why are you here? I’m sure someone else would love to lick at your boots.”

“Maybe I wanna get away from that.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, not buying it for a second. It definitely was not the first time he’s heard that. He’s fallen victim to that deception once before, never again would he give in so easily. Besides, Lance practically bathed in attention. He sought for it and eventually received it, so why? Why was he here?

“Is it because I’m quite literally the only one who doesn’t bow at your feet?” Keith scoffed, gathering his things and stuffing them in his bag. Hopefully, he could worm his way out of this situation.

Lance simply laughed at that. “What is this? High school? Of course not. I know I can’t please everyone. But you… I wanna get to know you. Maybe even get you to like me.”

Keith clenched his jaw and turned to him. “You think I’d like you after you’ve pestered me thrice and still refuse to leave me alone?”

“Not interacting isn’t a way to make friends, Keith.” He shook his head in reply, clearly enjoying this little exchange of theirs.

“I don’t need your friendship.”

Lance sighed, coming to terms with the fact that Keith was indeed one hell of a tough nut to crack. But Keith was fully aware that Lance was just as tough. He braced himself for what else this guy had up his sleeve. All Keith wanted was to get away from this situation without drawing attention to himself. Though, now that he thought about it, with Lance McClain hanging around him, there was no doubt that more eyes were on him than before.

“Okay, how about this…” Lance offered, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Be my partner for this project and I’ll leave you alone once it’s done. Like, completely alone. I won’t even look your way.”

“You said that when you gave me your number the other day.”

He frowned in confusion and thought for a second, but instantly recovered. “Uh, that was yesterday, and I never said that. I said you could delete my number. I even said that I’d see you around.”

Keith slung his bag over his shoulder, giving Lance a look of disbelief. “Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“You can say no, but I’ll still find a way to get you to go out with me.” Lance gave him a small smile and a shrug like it’s the most casual thing in the world.

“This is harassment, and maybe even blackmail.”

Lance chuckled, shaking his head, still not budging. “Okay, this isn’t blackmail. I just want to get to know you and engage in conversations with you.”

“But I don’t want that from you. Take my no and go.”

Lance opened his mouth to reply to that statement when the professor called out to them from his desk. “McClain, Kogane. Please submit your names as a pair. You’re the only two that haven’t done so yet.”

Keith felt his stomach drop onto the floor. They had spent too much time bickering that Keith hadn’t realized that everyone had paired up already.

“Sir, could I just… work on this alone? Please?” he pleaded, not wanting to be lumped in with Lance.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Kogane. But this is a pairwork and I will not be making exceptions. I’ve already denied requests like yours.” the professor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Either you work in pairs or you don’t get a grade for this project.”

Keith was now up against a wall. Projects took up a large percentage of his grade. Getting a low score or even none at all would be a large blow to his overall results. He couldn’t risk that.

Taking a deep breath, Keith grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his bag, scribbled down both their names and handed it over to the professor. He was going to regret that decision, he just knew it. But he figured it was far better than failing a class.

As Keith silently trudged away from the teacher’s desk, Lance jogged up to him, stopping him at the doorway.

“What do you want now?” Keith was so close to snapping.

Lance’s eyebrows were furrowed with guilt and maybe a hint of concern. “I just want to tell you that I’ll still keep my end of the deal. I’ll be out of your hair when this project ends. I promise. And… And I’m sorry for being a dick.”

“Yeah, well. You should’ve thought of that before being annoying as hell.” Keith rolled his eyes, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. “Meet me at The Castleship tomorrow. 10 am. Do  _ not _ be late.”

He didn’t stay to hear what else Lance had to say. He didn’t want to listen. He just wanted to leave. There were too many thoughts swirling in his head and he just needed some peace and quiet. This was not how he imagined his year going. All he wanted was to go through college peacefully, not to be followed around by some asshole with confetti for a brain who just couldn’t grasp the concept of not getting his way.

Keith ran his fingers through his hair, now hyper aware of the stares and whispers around him. It wasn’t new, but spending time around Lance has made him more conscious all of a sudden.

Eventually, Keith got out of the building and made his way to the dorms to grab some stuff. He knew just what could remedy the panic inside. But first, he needed his equipment. It’s not like he could go ghost hunting without his stuff.

Dropping his bag onto the dorm room floor, Keith flopped onto his bed with a groan, glad his roommate was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?”


End file.
